OPERA observatories of environmental radioactivity in France

OPERA observatories of environmental radioactivity in France

 

 

AbstractThe OPERA-AIR air-samplers network insures the radiological monitoring of the atmosphere in various locations of the French territory.
A station consist of continuous air sampler that allows to retain aerosols on a filter. A charcoal cartridge can also be used for gazes if necessary. The filters and cartridges are regularly changed and sent to IRSN laboratory for analysis. One can find two different types of samplers in the OPERA-AIR network: 8 samplers with very high air sampling rate (800 m3/h), for very low level measurements, and 40 samplers with medium air flow rate (80 m3/h), more dedicated to the monitoring of radiological events that could occur in France.
A modernization phase of the medium flow rate samplers has begun in 2012 (end in 2015), that consists of new sampling devices and new implantation strategy.
STAR partnerIRSN
Type of dataMonitoring and Research
Sample number>1000
Quality 
Spatially referencedYes
Ecosystem typeAir
Sample typeAerosols, gases, cloud, fog
Date1959 onwards
LanguagesFrench
StatusOn-going programme
Obtain data

Please contact:olivier.masson@irsn.fr, christophe.debayle@irsn.fr

Key reference sourceshttp://sws.irsn.fr/sws/mesure/index
Data ownershipIRSN
Database formatExcel
Figure information1) Location map of the OPERA-Air stations (IRSN) 2) Medium volume aerosol sampler (80 m3.h-1) (IRSN) 3) High volume aerosol sampler (800 m3.h-1) (O. Masson, IRSN)
Keywords

france , air , natural_radionuclides , infoex

 

Prepared by STAR NoE